“But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Genesis 3:4-5
Just a Little Apple
That snake certainly was crafty. It was just a little apple, after all. It’s not like the snake was telling Eve to come serve and worship him instead of God, but yet, that one little apple distracted her and pulled her away from her obedience and her relationship to God. If the snake had been straightforward and said, “Follow me! Worship me, not God!”, she may have seen his deception and stood firm and said, “No! Get away from me!” But he didn’t do that—he didn’t HAVE TO do that. He simply used a little apple that was supposed to offer something back.
We’re not in the garden anymore, but that snake is still crafty. He’s still deceiving God’s children one apple at a time. Today, it may take the form of watching one more TV show to finally feel rested, or one quick glance on the phone to feel connected, or adding one more thing on our to-do list just to get life nice and tidy, or shopping for that one thing to make us feel happy.
Whatever the “apple” may be, it will always offer empty promises and the enemy’s goal with it is always to pull us away from God. We can’t forget, Satan hates God, and he’ll come at God by coming after His children. If he can distract us away from God for even a minute, he’s pleased. He won’t always come head on and attack, although he does that too, so we must see and examine the little things in our lives that may just be little apples distracting us from our obedience and relationship with God. Don’t let the little apples in life that offer empty rewards distract you from the One who loves you. God will never be sneaky or crafty or deceive you or offer you empty promises; His love for you is real, complete and pure.
“Lord, show us the apples that pull us away from You; bind our wandering hearts to You. Help us not be deceived by the enemy but overcome his craftiness with Your truth and Your wisdom. Thank You for loving us. Amen.”
Amen!
Thank You !
Thank you. My grandchildren are coming this weekend and I am planning to give them the first of many bible stories with flannel graph which they have never seen. I remember seeing and hearing flannel graph stories when I was a kid and was captivated by them. I hope they will be too. My plan is to prepare each month to share a bible story with them when I go to the bay area to visit them. I am starting in Genesis, so this message today blessed me as I will be teaching the creation story this weekend. Jesus, thank You for confirming in my heart to share Your Word with my precious grandchildren in this way. To the writer: God bless you today for sharing this, this week!
Amen!! Just a little thing…..uh-huh!!